Have you built up your family tree on Ancestry.com and are looking to enhance your experience? Then I’ve got the tool for you! (No, no webcams are involved.)

The Ancestry Family Search Extension for Google Chrome looks up information on Familysearch.org using the vital info from your Ancestry tree. The initial release was a nice addition on its own, but wasn’t able to look up maiden names for women in your tree, so was limited in its value.

However, version 2.1 was released a few weeks ago has added that functionality and some other nifty tweaks making it a <cue the echo> Must Have Tool </echo>.

For those not familiar with Google Chrome, it is a free web browser that can be used as an alternative to Internet Explorer, Firefox, and binoculars strong enough to peer into your neighbor’s window to see what they are surfing on the Internets. (For shame, Mr. Stanislaus, for SHAME!)

An Extension (sometimes known as an “add-on”) is a tool that adds some sort of functionality to the browser. There are many kinds of extensions. For example, I use password database program to keep track of my passwords and have installed a Firefox extension that allows that software to insert my passwords into forms with a simple keystroke combination. Thus saving me the burden of remembering the password 1yoPUhpTVU@:q(GEk. (Note to self: change password.) Read More | Comments

About the Author

As I have discovered more evidence of my family’s immigrations and documentation of their lives, I have become entranced by the idea that while we live in different times we often travel similar paths. Read More